Air tempering and humidifying unit



Oct. 6, 1931. w, NrrcHY 1,825,813

AIR TEMPERING AND HUMIDIFYING UNIT Filed Jan. 14, 1931 INVENTOR. j A l(/ 'ii aten'ted @rt. I I i l 9 r unrra'o STATES PATENT OFFICE:

application filed January 14, 1931. Serial No. 508,664. 1

My invention relates to a semi-portable control. Instead of removing large quan} unit embodying in'combination, means. for tities of excess moisture given off by the prod tempering the air and fol-automatically conuct,,these storages require the addition of trolling the relative humidity, so that any moisture, introduced mechanically, tomain- 5 desired temperature and relative, humidity tain a relative humidity. In unhumidified 5 may be obtained; for instance, in cold storstorage, the refrigeration soon freezes out age warehouses, refrigerated chambers and the moisturein the air, this results in an arid vars where perishable, food products are atmosphere. This de-hydrated air then atstored; and for, air conditioning in buildings. tacks the goods in the room to satisfy its In my invention, I provide a unit device natural moisture requirements.- This causes 30 having sufiicient radiating'surface necessary wilting, shrinkage, loss of Weight and flavor to keep a chamber or room at any desired to the goods. By means of my methods'and temperature; anda fan forcrcating air cir-- apparatus, a much higher efficiency in operaculation of this pie-tempered airthrough-an tion is obtained and the goods are more propautomatic humidifier and thencethrougl'iout erly Preserved and conserved {mid the 65 the confines of the chamber or room and conditionsmore properl .maintained than thence a return for further air tempering; has'been heretofore possi Is. all in a r g i l In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows an elevation My invention is especially applicable in of my unit partly in section to disclose in-- controlling the temperature and relative ternal features of t device in a p g s m humidity conditions in cold storage compart- C0mb 0I1- I ments, where normallya varied humidity R erring to 1g. 1; my apparatus for o diti il I ld t th maintaining desirable a r tempering condiroom temperature is normally below outside tlOIlS and l v idity prises a abit m t consequently my it i pnet having leg supports 10 braced as at 10x 7 plied with the refrigeration requisite to re- 10 he net fl or 12- At 11, 1100, 117 and move excess heat fr m-th r o My it 112 are indicated the side walls of the cabiis also capabl if removing excess i t r not; supported upon the cabinet floor 12 are a from the air under certain conditions and-in Seen an assemblage of heating .or refriger- 09 certain types of rooms; and, it is also capable ating units 13, 13m. Each umt may comprise so of adding the proper amo t; f m i t r t the finned tubes 14 illustrated, or pipe coils= the air in other types of rooms, such as may properly bafiled, cast sections or other combibe necessary to overcome the natural efl'ect nations usually employed for this purpose. of dehydration occasioned by refrigeration. At the floor level of the room is shown the In meat and poultry chill rooms, or other air intake 15 through which air is drawn into rooms where the problem f exces oistur the cabinet by fan suction passing through is presented, my unit by rapid air oirculathe air passage 16 which opens through the tion eliminates this moisture by depositing Wall 11 this air next flows in the direction it asfrost upon the coils of the refrigeratof the arrows to the fan chamber 17 passing ing unit. Carcasses are warm and moist through the air tempering units 13 and 13.70

when brought into the storage chamber and during such travel. Within the fan chamber consequently give oil heat and large quan- 17 a fan operates, being driven by the motor titics of moisture as vapor. This vapor must 18. Leading upwardly from the fan chambe rapidly removed while cooling the meats; her 17 the tempered air passes through the otherwise, the moisture will condense upon pipe 19 to my humidifier assembly 20 and 05.

the cold walls and ceiling and cause a genthcnce after treatment for humidity control,

erally Wet and unsanitary condition within the air passes through'the pipe 21 into one or the room. more tapering pipes 22, horizontally dis- Fruits, vegetables, eggs and general stor posed under the ceiling of the room. By

50 age present a different problem of humidity means of properly regulated orifices 23 and 1 true wet bulb temperature.

f and as the wet the tapering pipes 22 an even distribution of the treated air is ejected into the upper portion of the room from which it descends by gravity to the floor level and back again to the air inlet for further treatment. Thus the air throughout the room is constantly being circulated in the most preferred manner. The entire supply of air may be taken from the room, or by a suitable arrangement of ducts and dampers, not shown, outside air may be admitted so that any proportion of fresh air or recirculated air may be employed.

The recirculated air being drawn from the floor level, prevents the stratification of cold air in the lower part of the room. It also prevents the accumulation of carbon dioxide gas given ofi by many products in storage. which being heavier than air, ordinarily sinks to the floor. This gas and other volatile products liberated have an afiinity for the moisture content in the air. As this moisture is then frozen out by the coils 14. the air is dehydrated, cooled and de-odorized within the cabinet, and ready for a subsequent treatment in the humidifier.

In practice, the pipes 22 may be-permanent installations in a room and my equipment may be transported from one room to another as occasion demands and its outlet pipe 21 connected by the elbow 24 to a pipe installation 22. The coils 14 then would be connected to supply pipes, not shown, carrying the refrigerant so that if the room temperature is to be lower than the atmospheric temperature, ammonia, brine or cold fluids may be circulated through the coils 14. If however the room temperature is to be above atmospheric temperature, then steam or hot water pipes, not shown. would be connected to the coils 14. In either case the room temperature is controlled by means of any standard thermostat arranged to control the flow of the proper medium through the coils 14 in such quantities as to maintain the temperature within desirable limits.

I control humidity automatically by means of the electric control thermometer 25. the bulb of which is surrounded by a wick which in turn dips into a container of water. This bulb, wick and container are located in front of the air intake 15 so that itis effected by the The electric control thermometer makes and breaks an electric circuit 26 to a. solenoid valve 27 which stops and starts the flow of steam, water or other liquid as supplied bv the pipe 28 from some source of supply. Within the humiditier 20 is shown the spray nozzle 29 leading from the valve 27. The circuit is so arranged thatas the wet bulb temperature lowers to a predetermined point, the flow of the humidifying medium through the spray 29 is started bulb temperature rises to :1

predetermined 29 is shut oil.

The humidifier 20 is contained in a sheet metal chamber associated with the cabinet 11, in this instance being placed above the top 30 thereof. It comprises two compartments 31 and 32 se )arated by the partition 33 having the mova le damper 34 manually operated from without. Tempered air entering the humidifier 20 at 35 from the pipe 19 is directed by the setting of the damper 34. The air may be entirely turned into the spray compartment 32 or entirely by-passed through the compartment 31, both compartments connecting to the outlet air mixing chamber 36 leading to the pipe 21. Between these limits any desired portion of the tempered air may be passed through the spray chamber 32. At the upper end of the spray chamber 32 are located battle plates or moisture eliminators 37 useful in arresting any entrained moisture carried in the air stream and causing it to fall to the bottom of the compartment 32; also, any surplus liquid not absorbed in the air stream falls from the spray 29 and is collected at 39 at the base of the compartment 32 from which the drain pipe 40 leads such excess liquid to the sewer or for other disposition.

Without automatic humidity control, the spray 29 operates constantly at a uniform rate; in this case, the damper 34 is so set that the saturated air upon leaving the spray compartment and when blended at 36 with the unsaturated air that is by-passed, will give a mixture of the correct final humidity, for delivery through the pipes 22 to the room. With automatic humidity control, the damper 34 is set to deflect nearly all the air through the spray chamber 32, so that the entire quantity of air leaves the humidifier 20 in a nearly saturated condition. As this moist air is delivered into the room through the outlets 23, the relative humidity gradually rises until the wet bulb control thermometer 25 functions to stop the spra 29 entirely. The refrigeration 14 then ten s to freeze out the moisture, lowering the humidity until the wet bulb control thermometer again starts the spray. This cycle is repeated as required to keep the humidity within reasonable limits. lVith a constant room (dry bulb) temperature, any specific relative humidity causes a known and fixed depression' on a wet bulb thermometer. Consequently if just sufficient moisture can be added or removed to maintain this wet bulb temperature, the required humidity results. As the wet bulb temperature rises above this point, it is an indication of increasing umidity, and the control thermometer 25 then functions by stopping the spray 29 in the compartment 32 as above stated. As the lower air strata in the room is again circulated over the refrigerated coils 14 moisture point the spray at the nozzle is eliminated, which gradually lowers the humidity, and with it, the wet bulb temperature. As this temperature falls below the desired degree, the wet bulb control thermometer again starts the spray 29. The limits within which the thermometer will hold the wet bulb temperature and consequently the humidity depends entirely upon the sensitiveness of this instrument, usually within three degrees.

Certain types of my units, especially for banana ripening rooms, are equipped with an auxiliary electric for steam heating element 38, preferably arranged within the pipe 21 andvalso under thermostat control. This. is necessary since banana rooms may require refrigeration and heating temperatures on the same day. In this event, the coils 14 would only be connected to the refrigerant supply system to simplify both installation and operation.

Such modifications may be employed as lie within the scope of the appended claims. Having fully described my invention, what I now claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Means for producing a forced air cir culation of tempered and humidifying air in a chamber including a cabinet within the chamber and an air tempering assemblage within the cabinet; an air intake at or near the floor level of the chamber in communication with the air tempering assembly and a fan operative to remove air from the floor-of the chamber and suck said air through the air tempering assembly and thence force said tempered air upwardly to the upper portion of the chamber and means connecting to said cabinet to receive said tempered air and adjusted to discharge said air throughout the upper portions of the chamber; and a humidifier associated with the cabinet intermediate the fan and said discharging means; said humidifier comprising two vertical compartments separated by a division wall and a movable bafiie; a spray in one compartment for adding moisture to the air after tempering, said baflie serving upon adjustment to divert measured quantities of the circulated tempered air to enter either or both of said compartments and an air mixing chamber above the compartments delivering into the air discharging means.

2. In a device as described in claim 1; and a thermometer forward of the air intake affected by the wet bulb temperature of the air stream at the intake, an electric circuit opened and closed by the action of said thermometer, and a valve operated by said circu1t for opening and closing the flow of a medium through said spray.

3. In a device as described in claim 1; and a heating element in the air discharge system beyond the humidifier.

4. In a device as described in claim 1; and

a moisture eliminator in the upper part of the spray compartment below the air mixing chamber and a container and drain therefor at the base of said spray compartment.

5. Means for produclng a forced air circulation of tempered and humidifying air in a chamber including a cabinet within the chamber and a refrigerating assemblage within the cabinet; an air intake at or near the floor level of the chamber communicating to the refrigerating assemblage and a fan operative to remove air from the floor level of the chamber and draw said air through the refrigerator for dehydrating and cooling purposes and thence force the dehydrated air upwardly through a humidifier and thence upwardly to the upper portion of the chamber and means connected to said cabinet to receive said tempered and humidified air and adjusted to discharge the same throughout the upper 'portion of the chamber; said humidifier being associated with the cabinet intermediate the fan and air discharging means; said humidifier comprising two vertical compartments separated by a division wall and a movable bafile in said wall; a spray in one compartment for adding moisture to the air after dehydration in the cabinet, said bafile serving upon adjustment to divert measured quantities of the circulating dehydrated cooled air into either or both of said compartments; and an air mixing chamber above the compartments delivering into the air discharging means.

6. In a device as described in claim 5; and a thermometer forward of the air intake, affected by the wet bulb temperature of the air stream at the intake; an electric circuit opened and closed by the action of said thermometer, and a valve operated by said circuit for opening and closing the flow of a moisture laden medium to said spray.

7. In a device as described in claim 5; and a heating element in the air discharge system beyond the humidifier.

8. In a device as described in claim 5; and a moisture eliminator in the upper part of the spray compartment below the air mixing chamber and a container and drain therefor at the base of the spray compartment.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

GEORGE W. NITCHY. 

